Aberystwyth University has announced the creation of five new Welsh-medium lecturing posts that have been funded by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.

The announcement was made on Monday 19 March by Professor April McMahon, Vice-Chancellor of Aberystwyth University, at a meeting to launch the University’s branch of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.

The Coleg is a national organisation that plays a key role in planning, maintenance and development of Welsh medium education and scholarly activity in Welsh universities through the activities of the branches.

The posts are in Education, Agriculture, Geography, Mathematics, and Part-time studies - a multidisciplinary scheme through the medium of Welsh which will offer part time students an opportunity to study towards a degree in a humanities or science subject.

All five lectureships are funded for a period of five years by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and the University is committed to these posts as part of its core provision.

In addition, Professor McMahon announced the creation of three postgraduate scholarships in Politics, Law and Rural Sciences, which have also been funded by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.

Six lecturers have already been funded to work at Aberystwyth University this year through the Coleg’s Staffing Scheme. They are Dr Huw Morgan (Physics), Dr Rhys Dafydd Jones (Geography), Hefin Wyn Williams (Agriculture), Sara Penrhyn Jones (Film), Rhun Emlyn (History) and Dr Huw Williams (Politics).

Professor Aled Gruffydd Jones, Senior Pro Vice-Chancellor and a Director of the Coleg, said; "The appointment of such world-class scholars is a significant boost to the Welsh language provision in the departments and their research profiles. The lecturers are already developing new provision and discussing collaborative projects with other departments and organisations.

"This means that the choice for students wishing to study through the medium of Welsh is increasing significantly, and that, combined with the excellent facilities provided on the Coleg’s e-learning platform Y Porth (http://www.porth.ac.uk/en/), confirms that there hasn’t been a better time to study in Welsh and bilingually."

During the launch, Professor April McMahon and Professor Aled Jones announced the support of the University to the work of the branch, and emphasised the importance of Welsh language provision as part of the wider Academic Strategy of the University.

The Aberystwyth University branch of the Coleg will be based at the Centre for Welsh Language Services and the staff will work in collaboration with academic departments to develop the Welsh language provision as part of the University's Welsh-medium strategy.